Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Adventures: Fun On The Road With TomTom!

As we all know, I’m a big fan of going on adventures, and given that most of my adventures involve a drive, it’s often hard to pick up on all the phone calls I receive while I’m out on the road. It’s illegal to pick your phone up and have a chat or send a text message while driving, and it’s certainly not advisable to do that at all. I’ve been asked by the lovely Tesco Compare to do some safety and security testing, and they sent me a TomTom Hands Free Kit, suitable for smartphones:

On my first thoughts opening the product, the box was neat and compact, and gives you all the details you need to know about the product on the side, including a handy little size guide so that you know before purchasing, whether or not your phone will be suitable for the task! Thankfully the maximum size is pretty massive, and I think you’ll definitely be able to get your phone to fit.Now, upon sitting in the car and opening the box, I produced a LOT of accessories which are needed for the installation. You get things like suction pads and a little round tray thing that adheres to the dashboard. You can attach the kit to the windscreen or the dashboard, but, to aid with my Mum’s driving position (thanks Mum for letting me use your car!) I went for the dashboard. Next up, plugging the phone in! You receive a USB lead which connects to the 12v cigarette lighter, and a lead connected to the hands free which connects to your phone. Unfortunately, I had no idea that it wasn’t able to connect to my phone… a particularly fruity brand of mobile phone, but after a brief search online you can purchase micro USB adapters which will plug into your phone. Don’t give up at this stage, friends!After borrowing my brother’s phone, we tried again, and connected to the kit via Bluetooth. The hands free kit played drums and randomly started talking to us! It was a bit startling… but the phone connected to the hands free kit straight away and guided us through the installation, which was short and painless. We then went for a short drive around (and asked our Mum to give us a ring halfway through), and amazingly, the phone rang, and I could pick it up (in the passenger seat), just by pressing the little green button on the side of the hands free kit. That was a fun experience. You can charge your phone up using the 12v cigarette lighter, and the possibilities are endless, you can use a map app and use your phone like a sat nav, or even play some music via your phone (only if your car stereo supports Bluetooth though).It was a good experience, although for me personally, I’d rather be a person who switches her phone off during journeys and let any phone calls go to voicemail or text. My personal reasons being are that I get distracted too easily, and I do value my safety over my social life! If you are looking for a hands free kit, I recommend this one as it’s robust and well built, but above everything else, your safety comes first when you’re driving.Have fun on the roads, people!

(This product was sent to me free of charge courtesy of Tesco Compare, and my views are my own!)